THE Philippine National Police (PNP) is fully supporting Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Benjamin ‘Benhur’ C. Abalos Jr.’s move to seek the courtesy resignation from the service of all its 3rd-Level Officers although they want all would-be members of the 5-Man Committee to maintain their fairness in making their decision devoid of any politics.

Many officials cited the lessons learned during the creation of the so-called ‘Alunan Committee during the 1st year of the Fidel V. Ramos presidency in 1992 which led to the massive purging of the then barely year-old police force.

The Committee chaired by then DILG Secretary Rafael M. Alunan III ordered all senior PNP officials from generals to colonels to file their courtesy resignation to pave the way for a total overhauling of the police leadership.

A number of retired and active PNP officials still remember that as a result, many hardworking and honest police colonels and generals who filed their courtesy resignation found themselves jobless, deprived of their necessary pays and other benefits after the Alunan Committee accepted their resignation letters.

On the contrary, many  in the organization who did not file their resignation papers although they were believed involved in irregularities managed to stay in their positions until their retirement.

“That happened in 1992. Morally upright officers sadly left the force after their courtesy resignation were accepted by the Alunan Committee while those who should be the ones to be weeded out managed to stay in the force and even occupy positions of major responsibility,” said a retired police general who was still an aide-de-camp to a ranking PNP official that time.

Other officials also suggested that the 5-Man Committee be likened to the known Feliciano Fact-Finding Commission which was created by then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to investigate the Oakwood Mutiny of July 27, 2003.

Chaired by the late retired Supreme Court Justice Feliciano P. Feliciano, the fact-finding committee which became popularly known as the Feliciano Commission investigated and evaluated all the facts and circumstances surrounding the Oakwood rebellion, its roots and the provocations that inspired it.

The PNP leadership expressed its full support to the move of Sec. Abalos to cleanse the force of officials involved in illegal drug activities  and thus, has demanded that it be composed of morally upright and competent people who will be acting on a set of rules that will be fair to all concerned.

Last week, Gen. Azurin called on his generals and colonels — there are 956 of them — to heed Sec. Abalos’ appeal and tender their courtesy resignation from the service.

However, the top cop and his officials also demanded only one thing: a fair and objective 5-Man Committee which will subject them into a thorough vetting that will regain them their badge of honor or cost the end of their 30-years or more service in the force.

Gen. Azurin said they have submitted at least 22 names for President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ R. Marcos Jr. to pick, all people from different sectors whom they believe have proven unblemished records and have a grasp of what the PNP is as an organization.

The top cop and his men later welcomed the pronouncement of Sec. Abalos that retired General-turned Baguio City Mayor Benjamin B. Magalong who is known for his solid track record, service reputation and unblemished reputation will be one of the members of the committee.

“A five-man committee, which is independent from both PNP and DILG will be handling the assessment and evaluation process. While this process may be outside the disciplinary machinery of the PNP, this will be undertaken due to the exigency of the situation,” said Gen. Azurin.

“Though we heed the call of SILG, we respectfully demand the members of the said committee to maintain their reputation of an impeccable character, probity, fairness and unquestionable integrity throughout the process. Least they be reminded that the careers, reputations, families and even lives of these 3rd Level officers, built for 30 years or more, depend on their hands,” the PNP chief added.

Gen. Azurin said they have submitted at least 22 names that may qualify for membership into the 5-Man Committee that will be decided by President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ R. Marcos Jr.
Many officials have called on President Marcos and Sec. Abalos  to ensure that only people known for their solid stand on fairness and with unquestionable reputation be named to the Committee.
There were some generals and colonels who aired apprehension that if politics will be injected into the Committee, some of them may find themselves being ousted from the police force simply because they were wrongly identified with other political groups or may have been wrongly accused of involvement in irregularities in the past although they were exonerated of all the charges against them following a thorough investigation by different government investigating body.

“What we fear he is that a simple negative news clippings, a derogatory report which tarnished our names in the past could be used against us even though we allowed ourselves to be subjected to a complete investigation and we were cleared of all the charges against us,” one Police Colonel said.

Gen. Azurin has called on his star-rank officers and full-fledged colonels to heed the appeal of Sec. Abalos. Thus, he ordered all 3rd-Level Uniformed Personnel to reply to the DILG chief’s appeal  within five days from receipt of his memorandum.

However, he said they want real fairness in the would-be proceedings.

“This exercise to be undertaken by the senior officers is more of a moral challenge rather than a legal battle. Thus, we likewise respectfully demand that the process be made objective, impartial, judicious, and fair. We demand as well that the proceedings be made apolitical, and that personal issues and biases be set aside for a more acceptable outcome,” Gen. Azurin said.